Isle of Sensuality (2 page)

It had been enough to be the sole guardian of his younger brothers after their parents were killed, never mind taking control of the family business as well—and all at the age of eighteen. And then there was Sarah and her ultimatum. Jake poured a two-finger nip of whisky and swallowed it in one burning gulp. The burn helped push away the lingering rage just thinking of Sarah brought. Still, it wasn’t enough.

Pouring a heftier shot, his mind unconsciously wandered back to the months after his parents had been killed. No one, not the social worker, the principal at his high school, or the counselor wanted him to take over the reins of
Campbell Engineers
. They’d all tried to persuade him to finish school and let the social department look after his brothers, all so he could go to college.

Jake shook his head at the absurdity of the memory. Like he’d ever let his brothers go into care. Another sip and the warmth of the alcohol spread through him, making it easier to ignore the confused guilt welling up inside.

Three months, he told himself. After that he could get back to London and work on his brothers. Surely they would see the logic in selling a failing company in today’s economy. They could use the proceeds to start their own small business, maybe even invest in the stock market. After all, share prices were at their lowest in decades.

Yet, as he relaxed back into a lazy-boy recliner and stared out at the darkness beyond the patio doors, an uneasy feeling swelled in his chest. Was he wrong in asking his brothers to give up on their legacy?

Before he could convince himself he was being an idiot, Jake heard scuffling coming from the front of the house. A moment later, the sound of flip-flops slapped against the stone stairs leading to the door of the villa and then, a light knock. Jake propelled himself out of the chair, headed for the hallway—picking up the coat rack just in case—and waited. The door swung open and a tiny, dark figure entered the house.

Jake flicked the light switch and after his eyes adjusted, he raised his brows in surprise at the sight before him. Caitlyn Hart, his co-star whom he’d yet to have the pleasure to meet, stood in his doorway resembling a drowned mouse.

The rain had turned her fiery red curls a dark cherry shade, enhancing the creamy skin of her face and neck. A familiar burn coursed through his veins as his gaze lowered to her white top, clinging to her like wet, translucent skin. He noticed the twin peaks pointing at him from her chest and swallowed. How had he missed how utterly sexy she was when he’d seen her on television commercials and in magazines?

Caitlyn cleared her throat in irritation and he realized his gaze was still molded to her breasts. He lifted his head and met her glare head on, resisting the urge to laugh at her expression. Her scowl was adorable.

“Would you mind getting dressed? I was hoping we could talk.”

Jake felt his eyebrows pull together before it hit him that he was standing there shirtless, wearing only a pair of jeans. Still, she was the first woman who had ever asked him to cover himself up. His lips curved.

“And let you miss all this?” Jake swept a hand across his torso. “I’m not that selfish.”

Most girls would have giggled at the joke. He waited, but her scowl only deepened. What was her problem? He placed the coat stand down, folded his arms across his chest, and then lounged against the door frame.

Her gaze darted down to his folded arms and for a moment, the scowl vanished. Her expression was hard to decipher, but before he could figure it out, her attention focused back on his face. He noted the emerald color of her eyes had darkened and a flush glowed in her cheeks.

Caitlyn wiped her expression—was it lust?—clean of any trace of emotion and glared at him some more. “Since it seems you’d rather do this half naked—” At that he did laugh and her frown deepened. “—then I guess I’ll say what I came to. You may think you’re some big shot movie star who doesn’t need to abide by the rules, but your actions have consequences for others!” Caitlyn’s voice rose as her anger flared.

He was gobsmacked at her outburst. Falling back on his charm to try to alleviate some of her anger, Jake grinned from ear to ear.

Her eyes flashed. Caitlyn stomped toward him and poked her finger into his chest. “Some of us have lives,” she continued her angry torrent. “Commitments, things we have to do after work. You know, work? Where you were supposed to be last week? Now filming will run on longer and I have places to be in three months.”

Jake eyed his co-star with his brows drawn together and his jaw taut. What kind of a woman would come into a man’s house and give him grief just because his timekeeping didn’t suit her? Exactly the same kind of woman Sarah was. He couldn’t marry Sarah quick enough for her liking.

But Jake wasn’t twenty-one anymore and didn’t let women try to rule him. Plus, he had to work with Caitlyn. If he threw her out now, surely the next three months would be torture. He considered whether to continue to play the dumb, self-centered
hot shot
movie star she had accused him of being and decided it would be fun. Well, more fun than telling her the truth about the week of hell which made him late. Not that he would ever confide such a thing in someone like her in the first place.

Jake shrugged and pulled his expression into his best I-don’t-give-a-crap look. “Sweetheart.” Caitlyn visibly bristled and he had to fight a smile. He grabbed the finger still prodding his chest and for a second, saw fear flash in her eyes before she pulled her hand out of his grasp. “We all have commitments. So we’re stuck on a fancy island off the coast of Rio with all the luxuries we will ever need for the next few months. I don’t see what the problem is. I could think of worse places to be.” The last part was true. Back home, shouldered with the responsibility of his family’s company, was one of them.

“You are beyond selfish!”

Caitlyn spun around and headed for the door. Her black leggings clung to a perfectly shaped bottom. His heart raced at the sight and arousal hit him like a knee to the groin, effectively dissolving his irritation. With his exhaustion from the long journey forgotten and the whiskey creating a warm glow inside—not to mention her sexy body messing with his head—Jake decided to at least try to make amends. Being at odds with her while filming was a headache he didn’t need, regardless of what he thought of her. Time to turn up the charm.

“Caitlyn, don’t go. Come on, let’s have a drink. We can get to know each other.”

Meeting his gaze head on with eyes burning green fire, she said, “I think I already know enough about you.”

Jake cursed under his breath. Yeah, he’d acted like a shallow arse, but mostly just to annoy her. Even though she reminded him of his witch of an ex, he liked it when she was all fiery. It suited her. But working with someone for three months who couldn’t stand him would be a nightmare.

She had the door open by the time he reached her, but he managed to grab her hand, turn her around, and then close the door. With her petite curves squeezed between him and the exit, he forgot what he was supposed to be doing. The scent of pine and berries drifted from her damp hair and those nipples straining against her top were now piercing his chest.

He was harder than a steel girder instantly and he despised his body’s reaction to her. Hadn’t it learned the first time around with Sarah? Her eyes grew huge as she stared up at him, but she didn’t push him away. He noticed her lips stood out like a single red rose in a bouquet of white against her angular face. This close, he could see her skin was bare of makeup—a sight he didn’t see very often.

The women he dated would never leave the house without makeup. Hell, half of them made sure they woke up before him just so they could be polished and pristine by the time he was up. He found Caitlyn’s natural look appealing, and although it irked him to no end, he couldn’t pull himself away. He wondered if Caitlyn tasted as good as she smelled.

With a different part of his anatomy overpowering his judgment, Jake decided to find out and lowered his head. The need to taste those lips and find out for himself whether she tasted as sour as she appeared overruled his common sense.

* * * *

One moment, she’d been storming away, intent on avoiding Mr. Big Shot as much as possible, and now she was squeezed between the door and an undeniably magnificent chest. Caitlyn’s breath sped and her heart pounded. With her thoughts in a confused muddle and the heat from Jake seeping through her wet shirt, the anger drained away, replaced by a fierce fire burning at her core.

His head tilted toward her and his blond waves cascaded around his head like a halo. With a face seemingly carved from tanned marble and eyes the color of Swiss chocolate, he truly was beautiful.

For a moment she was lost in his eyes, which seemed to turn darker as she stared. Before she knew what was happening, Jake’s head descended toward her and she caught a whiff of whiskey on his breath.

Her thoughts spun back almost ten years. It wasn’t Jake in front of her anymore, but her father pinning her to the floor, his beefy hand bruising her shoulder and the smell of stale alcohol on his breath choking her senses as he yelled at her.

Fear burned adrenaline through her veins and she dashed to the side, maneuvering away from both him and the door. The old terror of entrapment made her heart pound wildly in her chest. She edged into the hall, trying not to resemble a skittering rabbit and failing horribly. He stepped closer and Caitlyn feinted back.

She knew he wasn’t her father, but still the fear gripped her. She’d spent her whole life carefully avoiding the opposite sex as much as possible. The intoxicated beatings her father had subjected her to were only one of the many reasons for her wariness.

And now, here she was, flirting with danger, all because she was angry he was making her late. It wasn’t any of her business if Jake Campbell was a self-centered, unreliable, egotistical male. The possibility of missing her sister’s fashion show was hard to accept, but she’d work something out. She would work with him and do nothing else. Why had she been so stupid as to come over to confront him?

“Caitlyn, are you all right?” Concern etched Jake’s forehead.

Some of the terror eased. Logically, she knew she was overreacting and now her cheeks burned with embarrassment. “I have to go.”

His eyebrows shot up his forehead. “I’m sorry.” He held both his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “How about we start over?”

His grin made her knees weak and her pulse race—but not from the fear. No, her body’s
want
for him had almost eradicated that. Jake
really
needed to put a shirt on. She couldn’t think around the jitters in her tummy his near-naked state was causing.

As he was blocking the door, she didn’t have the option of leaving. For now. “Could you please put on a shirt?”

Jake’s grin grew huge and she immediately regretted saying anything. Now he knew his half-nakedness bothered her, she wouldn’t be surprised if he slipped off his jeans.

For a second, she was distracted by the idea, but she forced herself to focus—no easy task when he stood in front of her, muscles rippling and smooth, velvety skin on display.

“Does my shirtless state offend you?” The teasing glint in his eyes contradicted the note of innocence in his voice.

“No, it’s just rude to be half-naked when you have company.” Caitlyn bristled at her prissy tone.

Jake stepped closer and panic tightened her chest. She tried to quash it. He wasn’t her father, he was in the public eye and if he was prone to violence, wouldn’t the world know about it? But then again, so was her ex-boyfriend, and it didn’t stop him from dishing out verbal attacks.

God, get a grip, Cait! You’re acting like a crazy person.

Jake bent down outside a closed door in the hall, unzipped a suitcase, then pulled out two white cotton t-shirts. After slipping one on, he held the other out to her. Caitlyn’s brows drew together as she looked at it.

“Put this on. You’re not topless, but you might as well be. Water makes most white clothes transparent.”

Caitlyn glanced down at her top and to her utter horror noticed it was see-through! Without thinking, she grabbed the shirt, turned her back on Jake and pulled the soft cotton over her head.

“I’ve clearly pissed you off,” Jake said, stating the obvious.

She nodded, even though it wasn’t a question. The familiar prickle of fear tingled her spine and, though a part of her thought it was sensible to feel it, she felt utterly stupid. She’d been alone with men—albeit in public places—since she ran away from her abusive father. But men in general scared her. Especially after Archie had turned nasty when she’d refused to sleep with him.

“Because you have somewhere to be after the scheduled filming?” Jake pressed, dragging her from the murky thoughts. Caitlyn nodded again. Before he could carry on with whatever it was he was going to say, his mobile rang. Jake pulled a Blackberry from his front pocket and cursed when he read the caller display. “This won’t take long. You can wait in the lounge. I’ll just be a minute.”

He stalked through to the end of the villa and closed the kitchen door behind him. Along with the annoyance crossing his expression when the phone rang, she’d also seen guilt flicker across his features.

Caitlyn stared at the closed door and saw it as her only opportunity. Now that most of her anger had gone, she felt horribly embarrassed for her outburst, not to mention the fact she’d shown him fear.

She’d learned from early on if she showed fear in front of a bully, the beatings were always much, much worse. Not that she had proof Jake was one. No, he was just an inconsiderate ass. Still, old habits died hard.

She needed to get away, regroup, and figure out how to work with someone who both infuriated her and made her feel all hot and bothered at the same time.

She removed her flip-flops, sneaked toward the front door, and fled before his call ended, realizing the only danger she was in now was from her own wayward feelings.

Chapter 2